Sabatti Urban Sniper - Effective Measures

As an arms producer, Sabatti of Italy has been around since 1674 and is still going strong today. In the UK, this name was little known, apart from their copy of Ruger’s 10/22 semi-auto, which is now discontinued. However, their product lines are diverse, with double and single rifles, hunting and competition shotguns, plus hunting, tactical, and precision bolt-actions. Previously tested in the magazine, the ST18 and Tactical Evo were capable shooters. However, their biggest product line is the Rover series, which is the common action for most of their models.

Urban chic
From their Sport Shooting and Tactical series and on test is the Urban Sniper, which I would term a precision-type model. From the sports shooting viewpoint, well suited for disciplines like F-Class, and Precision Rifle, or for those who just want the pleasure of an accurate and longer-range option, be it for punching paper, or ringing steel.
The rifle uses the Rover short-action receiver and stands out in three ways, as we shall see. First, it’s very well priced for what it is, certainly in terms of its more expensive competition. Second, although offering what’s required, it’s still a reasonably basic yet practical design. Third, it uses Sabatti’s Multi Radial Rifling (MRR), which is worth a separate mention.

Thumbs up!
The build shows a medium/heavy thumbhole stock that’s made from rigid, fiberglass-reinforced nylon. It comes in black, but there’s also a camo option. There’s a height-adjustable comb and the length of pull (LOP) is adjusted by spacers (three included). The thumb cut-out is generous, and the pistol grip is semi-vertical with a full, tapered build and a right-hand palm swell. Underneath the butt is a cut-away to provide a hand stop. The forend is square and full, there’s a Picatinny section underneath, and the barrel is free-floating. The cast-in chequered panels provide an aggressive but comfortable grip, and there are QD sling studs front and rear, plus separate cup socket types too.
Removing the action from the stock shows a clean inlet that’s pillar bedded, with the front one incorporated into the recoil lug. Pleasingly, Sabatti includes the torque settings for the action screws; front – 9 Nm/79.9 in-lbs, rear – 8 Nm/70.8 in-lbs.

Pic rail as standard
The action features a Picatinny rail as standard, with 10 and 20 MOA options available. The rolling safety sits rear right and pushes forward to FIRE (red dot) and rear for SAFE (white dot) with bolt operation. The solid bolt body is fluted and shows a 3-lug engagement, 60º lift, and a plunger-type ejector. At the rear is a cocked action indicator that can be felt and seen. The long bolt handle angles down and back and finishes with a coned knob, which is replaceable with other styles.

7-round capacity
Feed is from a single-column, 7-round polymer box magazine, which is AICS-compatible. At first glance, I wrongly assumed it was a 10, as it’s quite long. The release catch is integral to the front of the trigger guard and pushes forward to operate. Unusually, the platform has a raised lug at the front, which I assume is to improve feeding.
The single-stage trigger comes factory-set at a quoted 2.6 lbs, and it trips crisply via the curved, smooth-faced blade with zero creep. Inspection shows the mechanism has a lock nut around a grub screw, which appears to be the only form of weight adjustment. I left it alone as it felt good enough to me. Sabatti says a Match unit is also available.

Heart of the rifle
The 24” hammer-forged barrel shows a medium-heavy build, with spiral fluting and a muzzle diameter of 22mm, which is threaded 5/8x24 UNEF. It comes with a 3-port brake and offers four calibre options: .223 Rem, 6.5x47 Lapua, 6.5 Creedmoor and .308 Win, with a short action receiver to suit.
The MRR rifling form does not use the traditional lands and grooves. Instead, it’s like a rounded, polygonal form that doesn’t physically engage the bullet in the same manner as the more accepted concept. We are told it relieves stress and increases barrel life, also the geometry of the throat/commencement of rifling allows better engagement and bore alignment. However, I was keen to see how it handled non-lead projectiles, as research showed varied thoughts on that one.

Testing
For the test, I used Tier-One mounts to fit a 3-15x56 Nightforce scope. Up front, I attached a reflex moderator to replace the muzzle brake, as it’s typically noisy and might be considered a bit antisocial on the range. I then fitted an AccuTac bipod to the forward Pic rail.
I opted for 6.5 Creedmoor due to its popularity, and I went with five loads; Sellier & Bellot’s (S&B) 131 and 140-grain soft point, which are both hunting fodder, and their 140-grain FMJ Match. Lapua’s 130-grain Scenar boat tail hollow point (BTHP) Match represented a top-end recipe. For non-lead, Barnes’ 127-grain VOR-TX Long Range, which is a monolithic, copper, ballistic tip.

Down, test, and adjust
Getting behind the rifle showed it was sensibly laid out, with controls easily accessed. Although you must break your shooting position to operate the safety, this is not as arduous as with some other thumbhole stock designs. The trigger proved excellent, with a short, precise, and predictable break, and zero creep. Without spacers, the LOP is short and even with the three supplied, I was left wanting more, but I do have long arms. In conjunction, the adjustable comb was welcome, as it allows you to tailor the perfect cheek weld and eye/scope relationship.

Results
Sabatti claims this model will give guaranteed sub-MOA performance at 100m, which is no big deal these days, as it has become the mantra and benchmark from most manufacturers. And with the five loads I chose, it proved to be the case. However, that only scrapes the surface, and as with any rifle, its primary role and ammo testing/choice must be born in mind. Shooting was done off the bench, with front and rear bags at 100m.
The results were interesting and a tad surprising in some cases. S&B’s 131 and 140-grain loads are soft tips, so primarily hunting fodder. The latter, from experience, has always been stupidly accurate in conventionally rifled, land and groove barrels. So, although pleasingly sub-MOA, it was not as good as I expected. It just aced their Match load, which was also sub-MOA, so justifying the claim.

Different twists
I was unsure about what the Barnes would do in the MRR rifling. Pleasingly, it was in the same rough sub-MOA group of the S&Bs. OK, another hunting load, but the future is all non-lead, so it’s reassuring that copper will work for paper punching. A heavier bullet might improve things.
Lapua’s Scenar Match was the sharpshooter, producing a very pleasing 0.444”. By contrast, testing a Mossberg MVP with a 24”, conventionally rifled barrel in 6.5 Creedmoor recently, showed the S&B 140-grain SP load grouping at 0.355” and the Lapua 0.414”. Shot in identical conditions, the results were different and served to illustrate the varying effects of individual rifling forms and bullet types.

What calibre?
Stopping for a moment to consider calibres and usage, the 6.5 Creedmoor will probably be the top choice. However, the .308 Winchester has proved itself over the years in both the target and hunting realms, making it a good option. The 6.5x47 Lapua is another excellent performer, but since the advent of the Creedmoor, has fallen out of favour and is not so available in the UK. .223 Remington best represents a varmint role for foxing and similar targets.

Final thoughts
Compared to guns like Tikka’s T3 Tactical, or the Accuracy International (AI), the Sabatti feels a tad workmanlike! The bolt is a bit clunky but locks up solidly, and the magazine rattles around, but the action feeds and ejects reliably. The adjustable stock is more basic but does the business. For the long-armed shooters amongst us (me for one), the spacers and maybe some more are a must. The trigger gives a light, crisp and predictable shot release. At just £995, the rifle offers a robust and practical build that shows some promise, at very good money.
OK, not as pretty, or with the ‘rep’ of the Tikka, but I was starting to like the no-nonsense but capable feel of the Sniper. And I reckon given the right ammo, put it and the T3 on the bench side-by-side and I don’t think there would be a lot in it!